better than I expected

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2005)

When I saw The Island was directed by Michael Bay, I was skeptical. He makes a lot of exciting action movies but when something is not blowing up, his movies get stale. Bad Boys II was particularly annoying and did anybody really care who got the girl in Pearl Harbor. Well, The Island pleasantly surprised me. In the future, Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson live in a state of the art city where everybody awaits a chance to go to the island. I don't think I am giving anything away (since it is given away in the previews) that they are in fact clones of real people who just use the clones to increase their lifespan. After the two discover the truth, they escape. There are a lot of well made car chases and a great action sequence on top of a building. Yes the story is a mix of THX-1138, The 6th Day, Logan's Run, and Michael Bay action movies, but I went around for the ride. It may not be a great movie (it borrows too much from what came before) but it is a fun movie to watch. It is also better scifi than Steven Spielberg's overrated War of The Worlds remake.